


Harry J Elric

by Chopin



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crossover, Father-Son Relationship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 01:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3154910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chopin/pseuds/Chopin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed comes across a baby Harry Potter on Privet Drive and adopts the baby as his own. Starts with Book 1, HP/FMA crossover, no slash, Minor OOCness - UPDATE: I made alterations to the final two chapters. Nothing much, but it does effect the story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ed never really ever thought he'd ever get married, than alone be a parent. His one goal in life had been to restore his brother's soul to his body, a goal which forced Ed into a whole other world. Ed didn't even know if Alphonse was alive or if everything he'd been through the last year had been for naught. Whatever the case, Ed couldn't allow himself to get involved with anyone; it wouldn't be fair to her, and Ed knew that. Ed was going to go back home, soon or later, and when he did leave, could he really expect her to go with him?

So Ed ignored the women that seemed to flock around him, and eventually they got the message. Ed wasn't for sale.

Of course, most of the women that _did_ flock around Ed were prostitutes or some form or fashion of a low-life. Ed refused to transmute too much gold, preferring to work at a job than upset this world's economy. As a result, Ed was left with a 7 dollar an hour job at a convenience store/gas station and a small shitty run-down rat-infested bug-ridden crumbling and decomposing flat. It was small and it one of the worst neighborhoods imaginable where gang-bangers and criminals of all sorts ran rampant. Even the bobbies were afraid of the area, and refused to go in without at least three men as back-up.

That didn't stop Ed from walking around though. He walked late at night, from 11 to 1, then slept from 1 to 7 where he then did some exercises, and then from 9 am to 9 pm Ed worked at his poorly-paying job.

So one day, while Ed was taking his nightly stroll, he saw not far ahead of him two men (one was _huge_ ) and a woman. They deposited a large basket on a doorstop of some random (or maybe not so random) house and left the vicinity quickly and quietly. Ed turned back to the basket when it began to quite suddenly cry. Ed was startled at the noise, which sounded an awful lot like a baby.

Why would those three leave a baby at that house? Ed was saddened that the child was given up so readily, but he supposed they must've had a good reason. After all, the people living at that house must be nice if three people decided to leave a baby with them without any sort of information.

Not so.

Once the doors opened, the woman got one good look at the baby at froze, shocked. Her, Ed assumed, husband followed her to the door and scowled when he saw the babe in the basket. He picked up what looked to be a piece of paper and read it quickly before giving a growl so loud even Ed could hear it. He then ripped up the paper before storming back inside, pulling his wife along, and slamming the door shut. The two had just left the baby outside, crying, without any sort of anything.

Were they serious?

After two minutes of the baby's cries-turn-hiccups, Ed couldn't stand it anymore and stormed over to the house, and baby, and glared daggers as he reached down the child and picked him up, bouncing him in his arms.

The baby was soon calmed and asleep in Ed's embrace, lightly clutching Ed's sweatshirt in his little baby-fist and softly snoring a sweet baby-snore. It was too cute for his own good, and Ed wondered how those two horrible people could just leave the baby outside. Alone. He growled to himself as he scourged the basket for the note pieces and scrambled them together best he could. A lot of the pieces were missing, and out of the pieces that were there, Ed could barely make out the word " _Harry"_. ' _Harry_ ' must be the boy's name, damned if Ed could read the surname, so it was just Harry.

Ed sighed as he tried to place the baby back in the basket only the baby to scrunch up his face like he was about to cry. Ed rocked the child in his arms and sighed. What was he thinking? He couldn't leave the boy to those monsters! But then, what was he to do?

_Brother, you know what you have to do._

_But I can't take care of a baby, Al!_

_You took care of me._

_Yeah, and look how that turned out._

_Ed, are you really going to leave Harry with these people?_

_No!_

_Then you'll drop him off in an orphanage. Of course, we escaped 'our' orphanage, didn't we Brother? They probably weren't any better than these people are._

_You're making assumptions._

_You need to take care of that baby! You need someone to need you, Ed! I know you!_

_But Al-!_

_No! You need him as much as Harry needs you._

So Ed picked up the basket in his right automail hand and walked away from the house, heading home. Al had always won their arguments, and he wondered why he even bothered toi try. Of course, it slightly concerned him that he'd talk to the Al in his head, despite the fact that Al could very well be dead.

But the child did need a parent, Ed knew that better than anyone, and if Ed was the only one available for the job, well then so be it. He raised Al, he could raise Harry too.

Ed got to his flat relatively quickly, and with a quick work of alchemy, a wooden and rotting chair became a rather small crib. It was still big enough to hold the dark-haired green-eyed infant, and Ed was pleased with the rather intricate designs on the wooden crib, if he did say so himself. It wasn't anything grotesque mind you, but it was… unique.

Placing the child in the crib, Ed quickly changed, showered, and re-dressed himself. After that, he made a beeline for that basket and began to examine it more closely. It seemed to be hand-made, but Ed couldn't find the starting wick.

The blanket also had some sort of glistening to it, but Ed wasn't able to quickly identify the chemical composition.

Ed sighed and placed the basket in a closet before turning back to the crib. He saw immediately that Harry was now sitting up (leaning on the railing mind you) and watching Ed with a certain innocent curiosity. A small smile was played on the baby's lips, and we he saw that he'd caught Ed's attention; the baby began to clap happily before holding his hands high in the air. It was the universal signal to be picked up; Ed recognized this and moved over to the baby.

Arms still in the air, Ed reached down into the crib and picked up the child, cradling him in the crook of his arm while the child's arms wrapped securely around his neck. The baby cooed happily and snorted before he began to play with Ed's plaited hair.

Ed pulled the child from his shoulder and placed him on his knee, after sitting down on the edge of his bed, and sighed. What had he gotten himself into? He couldn't raise a baby! He didn't even know what babies ate, then alone how they slept or even went to the bathroom! What was he supposed to do now?

Ed groaned and hung his head. His only option was finding a mother and asking, or going to the books on childcare in the library. Ed had a long night ahead of him, that much was certain.

 

* * *

 

It had been little less than 10 years since Ed retrieved Harry from the doorstep of that house on Privet Drive. Ed had all but forgotten about the three people who'd left Harry there, and even about the people who'd rejected Harry. It didn't concern him anymore, and he didn't really care about them.

Ed didn't even know what was said in that letter, but it didn't matter to him. He'd lived well enough without it, and both he and Harry were doing fine. In fact, Harry was turning 11 in a few months; a day which Ed had chosen himself since he didn't know when exactly Harry had been born. To make things simple, Ed chose the day he found Harry as the boy's birthday, and that worked out quite well for him.

"Hey, Dad!" Harry called from the end of the aisle of books, "I got a letter!"

Ed frowned. Harry got a letter? It was good, but unusual. With Harry being homeschooled, he didn't have a lot of friends, and even fewer who'd write him a letter.

Ed shrugged and made his way toward Harry before taking the unopened letter from the boy and flipping it over. There was a seal with an 'H' in the red wax, and Ed's curiosity was suddenly peaked. With a flick of his wrist, the envelope was opened and Ed was reading the contents inside with one hand, while with the other he passed the envelope to the intrigued 10 year old in front of him.

 **** _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_ __  
(Order of: Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc.,  
Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump,  
International Confed. of Wizards)

_Dear Mr. Harry Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you are accepted as a first year student in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_The list of required text books and equipments for the first year students is attached with this letter._

_The term begins on September 1st, so we expect your reply at the latest by July 31st. It should be delivered to us by your personal owl._

_Sincerely,_  
Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress

_PS: First year students are not allowed to bring their own broomsticks, however they can bring their pets like owls, cats, rats etc._

Ed frowned at the letter. Harry Potter? What kind of bullshit was this? Witchcraft and Wizardry? Broomsticks? Ed read the next page too, hoping that this was some kind of joke.

**_The textbooks:_ **

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

**_The Equipments_ **

_Wand : 1_

_Plain black work robes : 3 sets_

_Plain black pointed hat: 1_

_Pair of Protective gloves and a winter cloak: 1_

_Cauldron (pewter, size 2): 1_

_Phials set: 1_

_Brass scales set: 1_

_Telescope: 1_

_All the cloths should be tagged with your name to avoid the perplexity._

Ed growled at the ridiculousness of it all and crumbled the letter. Harry did make a noise of protest, but Ed quickly shushed him.

"It was mine though."

Ed shook his head, "No, it wasn't to you, Harry. It was to another Harry. Harry Potter."

"Potter?"

"Yeah, Potter. Do you know a Potter?"

With a shake of his head, Ed straightened, "Anyway, it was a joke of a letter. About magic and sorcery."

Harry frowned, "But magic isn't real, right?"

Ed nodded, "Right, and according to this letter, Harry Potter has been accepted into a Magic school for witches and wizards. It's ridiculous and it's not for you, and if it is for you, they didn't even put enough effort into it to get your name right."

"So," Harry shuffled his feet, "Dad?"

Ed looked down at his son, "Go on."

"What are you going to do with it?"

Ed passed to Harry, " _You're_ going to toss it out, okay? It's a prank, so just ignore it."

The boy nodded and trotted off with the ball of paper leaving Ed to continue his research.

Ed snorted at the thought of magic and walked right back to the shelf with an amused smirk plastered on his face.

It stopped being amusing the next the day, when an owl dropped another letter through an open window, onto the coffee table of Ed's flat, and flew away. Both house hold members stared at the envelope, and slowly Ed took a hold of it, opened it, and read it. It was the same damn thing as yesterday, and Ed couldn't help but scowl angrily.

"What kind of damn joke is this!" Ed snarled as he crumbled up the letter again and slammed it down onto the coffee table in a fit of unsuppressed rage.

Harry walked over to the table and motioned to the letter with a short tilt to his chin, "Could I see it?"

Ed growled something unintelligible, a noise which Harry took as a yes, and soon Harry found himself straightening out the letter and reading it himself. His dad was right, it was ridiculous, and despite how neat and cool it would be if magic did exist, it didn't. Magic wasn't real and that was that. So with a decisive nod, Harry re-crumbled the paper in a neat little ball, aimed for the trash bin at the other end of the room, and made his throw.

Ed grinned proudly when he saw Harry make the shot, and high-fived the kid with a grin of glee on his face, "Nice toss!"

Harry basked in the compliment, "Thanks!" And with a fist bump, Harry sat down at the table with his dad and started to eat his breakfast, completely forgetting about the letter. They had a long day ahead of them, so it wasn't difficult.

However, Dumbledore was quite confused when he learned that Harry had tossed his acceptance letter away. He had assumed that the boy had wanted to go, but that the Dursley's had thrown away his letter. However, with Harry having read the second letter, and yet it still being tossed, well that was quite the mystery to Dumbledore and it worried him.

He needed to do some research.

* * *

"Okay, Harry, now what about when 'x' is cubed?"

Harry paused in his English essay and bit his lip. He knew the answers generally very well, and could review his maths while doing his essays, but this question was a lot harder than the last. He had to think.

Ed waited patiently as he scribbled down some alchemy notes, he was still researching for a way home, but he was going to take Harry with him. Heck, Harry wanted to go to Amestris near as much as Ed did.

"The derivative would be three 'x', wouldn't it?" Harry guessed with a half-shrug. When Ed only arched a brow, Harry redid the math in his head before it clicked, "OH!" He jumped up from his seat in his excitement, "No, wait! It's three 'x' squared! I forgot the exponent!"

Ed beamed at him, "You're getting good, Harry. We'll probably give you a week as a break before we move on to the next level, okay?"

Harry nodded and sat back down to finish his essay before he suddenly paused to find another Hogwarts letter on his paper. When did that get there?

Harry picked it up and sighed, " _Dad_ …" Harry moaned as he lifted it for Ed to see, "Another letter."

Ed visibly slumped and took the proffered letter before tossing it right in the bin. "That's getting really old, really fast."

"But what if it is for me?"

Ed turned to Harry.

"I mean," Harry fiddled with his ball-point pen, "You found me at a doorstop, right? My name is Harry because you saw it on that note, but what if my last name is 'Potter'?"

Ed shrugged, "That's a possibility, but you know magic doesn't exist."

"But that's just it." Harry stood up and walked a ways towards his father, "What if it's not magic at all?"

Ed eyed Harry, "I don't get-"

"I mean," Harry clarified, "What if magic is just another form of alchemy? Or another branch? One that had never been discovered in Amestris?"

Ed shrugged, "I suppose that could be possible. I'd have to get a closer look at that magic stuff to tell whether or not it is, but it's a possibility." Ed eyed Harry quite suddenly. It was a scanning gaze, one that made Harry squirm under his scrutinizing look and shake like a leaf until Ed learned what he wanted from Harry's body language.

"You've thought about this before now, haven't you?"

Harry gave a somber nod.

Ed leaned backed and sighed. He didn't believe in magic, but if Harry wanted to go to school, who was Ed to stop him? Education was important, but so was making friends and Harry didn't have many his own age.

"Dad?"

Ed snapped his head up, unaware how long he'd been thinking of Harry's wanting to go to Hogwarts.

"Yeah?"

"You zoned out again, are you okay?"

Ed nodded, "Yeah." Ed tried to prevent his voice from breaking and stood up, "Well Harry, if you want to go to Hogwarts, if it's even a real school, I'll write your letter." It was almost worth giving up to Harry to see that boy suddenly brighten like he'd been give the whole world.

"You mean it?" Harry was on his feet now, and when Ed nodded in the affirmative, Harry launched himself at Ed, wrapping his arms tightly around his father. Then with a quick thanks, he was off to pack leaving Ed to write his acceptance letter.

_Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall or Hogwarts or whatever,_

_On Harry Jean Elric's behalf, I would like to question you or a representative of your school about Hogwarts._

_Meet me in two days’ time on Privet Road; in front of the house where Harry was found. I will be armed, so don't try anything funny._

_Edward H. Elric_

 

* * *

 

Edward and Harry spotted three people on a hill, two men, one woman. When they got closer, Ed recognized two of the three as the people who dropped Harry off at the doorstop.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Harry whispered to his father, not moving his head so it wouldn't be to obvious to the three that he was talking to his father.

"The woman, the old guy, they dropped you off on the doorstop." Ed whispered back with a small nod, "Now Harry, don't say anything, got it? I don't trust them, and if things go south, the less they know, the better."

Then they were within earshot, so Harry stayed quiet and behind his father a slight bit. Enough so that he was protected, but not so much that he couldn't see anything and they couldn't see him.

"Edward Elric?" The older man questioned with an outstretched hand.

Ed crossed his arms, ignoring the hand, "In the flesh. But we've already established who we are, what about you?" Ed sneered dangerously, using tones that would make several young soldiers quake in their boots.

"Albus Dumbledore. This is Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape." Albus gestured to each person in kind before making a small motion towards Harry, which in turn caused Ed to give a low primal growl. It made both McGonagall and Snape to back up, suddenly staring at him before slowly regaining their composure.

Albus looked more curious than anything.

"You have very unique eyes." Albus smiled with a twinkle in his own.

"Thanks." Ed snapped, standing between Harry and the three others, "Now about-"

"He's not a werewolf, Albus." Snape suddenly declared, "His mind's not been tainted by its dark blood."

And suddenly Albus and McGonagall visibly relaxed, although, Ed wondered when Albus ever even tensed up. He hadn't noticed until now.

"What do you mean ' _werewolf_ '?"

Albus touched his own cheek, right below the eye, and tapped the space a few times, "Your eyes." He smiled as he brought down his hands, "Only werewolves have gold eyes, and also, apparently, you."

Ed shifted, "This is part of that magic thing, isn't it?"

"Quite right.' McGonagall cut in, "Magic is quite real by the way. Like that scare of Harry's forehead, it was caused by magic."

"It's just a scar!" Ed protested vehemently.

"It's in the shape of a lightning bolt." She countered.

Ed bristled before turning back to Harry, who in turn looked up at Ed. Getting the nonverbal request; he brushed aside the fringe on his left side, allowing Ed to see his scar. It was in the shape of a lightning bolt, and even though Ed had seen it a thousand times, seeing it again, like this, had made quite the impact on Ed.

"What do you want?" Ed growled again, no longer facing the trio.

"Harry Potter is a-"

"Elric." Harry interrupted, despite his orders against saying anything.

"Pardon?" Snape questioned with an arched eyebrow and a sneer.

"My name is Harry Elric, _not_ _Potter_." The boy squared his shoulders.

Ed smirked and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. Harry smiled back, ignoring the adults, who, after seeing their exchange, were quite curious about the two's relationship. They were so close, like they really were related.

"Harry _Elric_ is a wizard." Snape sighed, continuing his earlier yet interrupted statement, "It's something genetic usually, and can't be taught." Ed understood the can't be taught bit, "Hogwarts is a school to teach wizards and witches to use their inborn abilities and powers."

"How do you even know I'm a wizard?" Harry asked, stepping out from behind Eda tiny bit.

Albus smiled congenially, "Hasn't anything unexplainable happened? Something you did that was out of the norm?"

Harry paused and exchanged a glance with Ed. Both were suddenly reminded of their most recent trip to the zoo, when Harry had accidentally released a python from its cage. Ed still had no idea how the boy did it, and had assumed Harry had been playing with the little bits of alchemy he knew, but how would Albus know about that? How would Albus know that Harry was responsible?

"That is the proof that you're a wizard, Harry." Albus continued, speaking to the boy, "We'd love to have you in Hogwarts. It's a school that even your parents attended." He said, referring to Lily and James Potter.

Harry shifted, "You mean… my bio-parents?"

Albus nodded and Harry exchanged another glance with Ed who looked just as lost,

"So, you're saying you knew Harry's parents?"

Albus nodded.

"Why'd they give up Harry then?" Ed snarled with sudden aggression, "What happened that you left a baby at the hands and mercies of the world's most pitiful excuses for human beings?" Who would do that to a child?

Ed suddenly stomped forward and gripped Albus by the collar of his robes, bringing him down to Ed's eye level while ignoring the other two wizards drawing sticks and Harry pulling on his shirt to get him to back off.

" _What happened, old man_?"

And so Albus explained. Slowly and carefully he explained everything to Ed, and slowly but surely, Ed lessened his grip on Albus until both arms were by his side and the sun was already past the 8 hour mark.

"So, Harry." Albus smiled at the young boy sitting beside Edward, "Are you coming to Hogwarts?"

Harry looked to Ed, nonverbally asking permission, and when Ed nodded his approval, Harry couldn't agree fast enough, after all, Albus Dumbledore knew his real parents! How could he pass up an offer like that?

 


	2. Chapter 2

Ed led Harry along Diagon Alley. Magic was fascinating to both of them, but they had Harry's school supplies to get and they couldn't spend too much time gathering them all. Hogwarts opened in a little over a week.

Because of how crowded Diagon Alley was, Ed led Harry through the masses of people by the hand, gripping the boy tightly before stopping at whatever store they needed. Ed had previously exchanged his Muggle currency for Wizarding currency, so they had money for shopping.

First, Ed bought Harry his school dresses, or robes as others preferred to call them, but they were dresses as far as either Elric was concerned.

So a lady came out from behind the counter and greeted them before beginning to measure every inch of the younger Elric. She started with his ears and when all the way down to the size of his toes. In the mean while, Ed being the over protective parent he was, waited inside the store, instead of outside, eying the woman's merchandise.

Much of her clothing was ridiculous, but others almost brought Ed to tears as they stuck such an odd similarity to Amestrian clothing. He pulled out a dress from the rack and thought of Winry's 7th birthday gift that he and his mom had bought for her in East City. He pulled out a long billowing coat and thought of the good Doctor Marcoh. Another shirt was extremely similar to Al's most favorite toddler onesie when he was 2.

Ed put them all back and leaned against the wall, biting his lip. He missed Al so much.

"Dad?"

Ed straightened almost immediately and turned around, masking his internal anguish from his boy.

"Hm?"

"She says she's done now and that we can go."

Ed nodded curtly.

It wasn't too much different from how clothes shopping was done back at home then. You don't pay the seamstress until you're satisfied with the quality and workmanship of the product. He smirked, this place… he could get used to it.

"Hey, lady!" Ed called to the storekeeper.

The woman popped out of the backroom door, " _Ye-e-es_?" She drew out the one word out of curiosity, "You do want Hogwarts school robes?" She checked the assumed type of clothing Ed wanted.

Ed nodded, "Yeah, but I also want one of those." Ed pointed to a set of casual wear on a rack, "In Harry's size of course, and in blue instead of red." Red was Ed's color, but blue could be Harry's.

When Ed had pointed to the clothes with a jerk of his thumb, Harry had followed the line of sight to a white shirt, black pants, and red jacket set. The lady, with a flick of her wand, floated the clothes out of the rack and towards the center of the room. With another flick of the woman's wrist, the clothing shrunk and the jacket changed color from red to blue.

What Harry didn't know, was that the coat was frighteningly similar to Ed's old coat which he'd worn constantly, and still had tucked away safely in his room under the matress, back in Amestris. The only thing it lacked was the Flamel, but then, Harry wasn't an alchemist either, so he supposed it fitted.

"Satisfactory?" The woman asked with an arched brow and amiable smile, knocking Ed down from his critical examining of the clothing.

Ed nodded, "Perfect, thanks. How much?"

She tsked at him and folded the clothing up nicely before handing it over, "No no, dearie." She smiled, "You pay me for this _and the Hogwarts robes_ all at the same time, you hear?"

And with that, and a wink, she just disappeared with a slight twist and a loud CRACK. Ed and Harry were both left speechless at their first demonstration of apparition, but Ed quickly got over it and ushered Harry right out of the store. They still had shopping to do.

"What are these for?" Harry asked regarding the clothes in Ed's grip as they walked down the alleyway.

"You." And with that, Ed disregarded any more questions about the clothing, instead opting to force Harry to hold them after the third question. If Harry wanted to know what's what, he would have to figure it out for himself. Harry was good at that, and Ed wanted him to use the brain he'd been given. It wouldn't take the boy long, Ed knew that.

However, in the meanwhile, Harry and Ed made their way around buying Cauldrons and Potion ingredients and whatever else that was needed for Hogwarts. It didn't take long to get to Ollivander's shop, making good time, but finding Harry a wand proved more difficult than first thought and they ended up staying at the store for near three hours before the man found Harry a wand.

It was the wand of a twin set, the twin being owned by You-Know-who himself, whoever that actually was, and suddenly Ed wasn't feeling too sure about this wizarding world anymore. Of course they would have Wizard criminals, but a mass murderer that once tried to kill Harry had the twin to Harry's wand? Ed wasn't sure if he liked that.

"Sure, don't _you_ want a wand?" Ollivander asked just before Ed and Harry could make their escape from the crazy old man.

Ed turned and shook his head with a wry grin, "I'm not a wizard." He snorted.

The man's eyes widened, "Muggle?" He breathed like he'd never seen one before.

"'Fraid so. Come on, Harry." Ed quickly changed the subject, "Time to go." And before the man could say anything else, both Elrics were out the door and running down the street.

"So, what do you think I should get?" Harry asked in reference to the animals strewn around them in cages. He was watching the thousands of animals before them and found it hard to make a discussion. There were rats, cats, and dogs. Lizards and frogs. Snakes and spiders and owls and monkeys and whatever else one could imagine as a pet.

"Avoid the fishes." Ed suggested, "They're too easy to kill." Ed shuddered with a sudden flash back of the brutal murder of Gil the Guppy. Al had been heart-broken for months, and even years after the fact, he still occasionally brought the poor critter up with tears in his armor eyes.

It was whole new set of scarring that Harry just didn't need to be exposed to.

Harry shot a sharp look to his father, before promptly continuing his trek into the mountain range that were animal carriers and cages. It was exhausting.

"Could we have a cat?" Ed suddenly heard Harry shout out from one of the rows.

Ed's heart almost stopped when he heard the shout. A cat?

He gave a sad smile, Al always loved cats, but they could never keep any of the strays they picked up. Ed sat down on top of a large cage and covered his face with his right automail hand, a wistful smile could barely be seen creeping across his face.

"Dad?" Harry called again, "Could we get a cat?"

Ed swallowed down his nostalgia and answered back, "Sure!" He croaked back, voice breaking, "Just make sure it's cute!" He said more solidly, and with that he wiped his eyes and stood up again, as strong as he was before, but only a little more broken.

Harry reemerged a few minutes later with a black and orange striped Scottish Fold Kitten. It was the cutest things Ed had ever seen, with its big blue eyes, and he almost died a happy man right there.

"Is this good?" Harry asked, holding the kitten out to Ed, who was able to carry the kitten in only one hand. _That kitten was small._

"Yeah." Ed smiled as he petted the kitten, "What are you going to name-" Ed checked the gender of the kitten, "him." He finished, ignoring Harry's obvious blush.

"Um, I was thinking, Hedwig?" Harry coughed, taming his embarrassment of his dad's shameless behavior. After all, _old ladies were staring at them now._

Ed blinked before shrugging, oblivious to the grannies, "Your cat." And with that Harry was handed the kitten and they made their way towards the counter to pay for the critter.

By the time they were done shopping, having gotten all their supplies already, it was dinner time, so Ed and Harry settled down in a small diner and ordered a meal as well as some milk for the kitten slouched across Harry's shoulder.

Ed, himself, was anxious to get started on the books he'd bought. They'd bought the entire store out, and Harry, despite being a little embarrassed at his dad's enthusiasm for books, was also desperate to crack his books open and try a few spells out. He was more for practical application than his father was, who's specialty and talent lay in research and development. However, Harry also _hated_ to read as well as loved it. It was fun to read books, but having to wear large glasses to do so was a pain, and then he usually forgot everything he read later, so he always had to take notes so he wouldn't forget what had happened.

For Harry, the school books would be torture, so listening to the lectures would be vital if he was to pass any of his classes. That was one other reason Ed had homeschooled Harry.

"This is gonna be great!" Harry cheered, forgetting his book problems momentarily as he was handed his meal, "I can't wait to see what Hogwarts is like! What classes do you think they'll have? Calculus or Trigonometry? Maybe some foreign languages. And then there has to be all those wizarding classes too! Potions and Transfigurations! Do you think they have an alchemy class?"

Ed smirked as he was handed his own meal, "If they do Harry, I'm pretty sure you'll have a good head start." Ed snatched one of Harry's fries and tossed it in his mouth with a grin, "You've already got most of the basics of Alchemy down, and with a few more years, you'd be able to move onto the more advanced stuff."

Harry beamed, "Would it be okay if I showed my friends some of my alchemy?"

"Don't be a show off, Harry." Ed growled warningly, "Nobody likes a know-it-all." And with that, Ed chucked a pickle slice right at his son, smacking him right in face with it. "Understand?"

Harry made a sputtering noise as he peeled off the pickle slice and wiped his now dirty glasses before replying, "Yeah, okay. It's just, I-"

"I know. You're excited." Ed was grinning again, "Just be careful." Ed paused before almost whispering the rest, "I won't be around to protect you anymore." And he continued to eat with that sobering thought floating around the fore-front of his mind.

Harry was suddenly frozen, unable to move. He wouldn't be around to protect him anymore? What did that mean? Wasn't Ed coming with him?

"Dad, I-" Harry paused, trying to find the right words, "What do you mean? I thought you were coming with me." Harry's day was practically ruined now. He didn't want to do without his dad. Without Ed, he would've been with the Dursley's, sleeping under the stairs or something. But Ed never forced Harry to do anything he didn't want to do, within reason of course, and Ed never hit Harry unlike his friends'(and I use the word sparingly) parents. Not even as a punishment was he ever hit. Ed had always reasoned with Harry, and taught him right from wrong with words and lessons.

Ed had schooled Harry, and helped Harry, and raised Harry.

Everything Harry knows, Ed had taught him!

"Harry, it's a school. For kids, and I'm 27 years old in case you haven't noticed." Ed finished his plate and ordered another, "But you'll be fine by yourself. The school is large and you'll make lots of friends. Dumbledore will be there-"

"I want you to be there!" Harry shot out of his seat, "I don't care about anything else! I want you!"

Ed's eyes widened at his own words echoing back at him. Hohenheim had left Ed and Al for their own good too, but all Ed and Al ever wanted was their Dad. They didn't care about anything else. Ed sighed, knowing that even though the cases were drastically different, for Harry who'd never know abandonment, felt that this was such a case. It wasn't, but could understand how it felt like it was.

"It's not like you'll never see me." Ed replied starting his second serving, "You'll be with me over Christmas break and the summer." Maybe if he explained things better, Harry will understand the difference.

"It's not enough. I want you there! At Hogwarts! With me!"

Ed eyed Harry and cocked a brow before sighing, "Fine. I'll talk to Dumbledore and see how things work out."

Ed shook his head at Harry's sudden happy expression, like the word was full of rainbow and kittens, "No promises though!" He added with a sigh.

"Nothing's set in stone yet."

* * *

 

Ed groaned as he readjusted himself in his bed. Madam Pomfrey had wonderful medications, as only 8 hours after being admitted Ed was back in top shape, but she had the most uncomfortable mattresses Ed has ever had the misfortune to lay upon. The hardwood floor would be more comfortable.

Ed then took a quick glance at the clock hanging on the wall.

Harry was to be arriving soon and then Ed would be released from the infirmary. Madam Promfrey had promised that Ed would be perfectly healthy in time for the Sorting Ceremony of the first years. That left Ed 1 hour before he could see Harry, and 1 hour before Ed would have to explain the gist of what happened at the train station.

Like, _Why didn't you get on the train? Where were you? What happened? How'd you get to Hogwarts?_

Ed wouldn't explain that he'd almost rebounded himself to an early death just hours before, as Harry didn't need that kind of stress and Ed had no idea what he'd been thinking at the time. It was stupid to try to transmute magic, but Ed just couldn't give it up when every time he'd tried, he'd gotten closer to succeeding than he had before.

Besides, Harry didn't need to worry about Ed. After all, he would be going to school now, making friends, learning from actual teachers… Harry didn't need to know about Ed's resurfacing reckless-streak. It just wasn't necessary. However Harry would want to know what happened, so a watered-down version of the occurring events would have to be explained.

Ed would tell Harry that he'd gotten sick by trying to break through the magic wall using alchemy; he'd suffered a rebound, and was rescued by _Snape_ of all people. Why he tried to break the magic wall? Well, the magic wall wouldn't let him through with him being a muggle, so he'd been at the train station the whole time except for when Snape brought him to Hogwarts. As for how Ed got to Hogwarts before Harry, Ed didn't even know the answer, so that would be an easy question to deal with.

It was a perfectly suitable and watered-down explanation that would prevent Harry from worrying too much about his dad and allow him to enjoy his time in school at the same time.

Ed leaned back into the pillow and thought of how perilous magic could be. He saw the raw power of it during the transmutation, and even though he hadn't recognized it at the time, magic was something strong and powerful. With it, he might be able to find a way home, back to Amestris… but transmuting magic was a dangerous business, and it was something to be further studied before there were any more practical demonstrations.

If Ed could word it just right, Harry wouldn't have any qualms at Ed's choice of a new research subject. After all, Ed had already gotten the most difficult part of magic transmutation out of the way. There was so much more work to be done so that rebounds wouldn't have the 93 percent probability of occurring that it had currently, and despite the fact that the baby steps into a new field are always the hardest, Ed had already taken those. Everything should be generally okay for a while.

Ed sighed and settled back into his cot, thinking back on the beginning of that horrible experience. Ed and Harry couldn't find platform 9 3/4, which happened to be magically hidden by a charm or whatever. No one had told them, so both Ed and Harry spent a better part of 20 minutes wandering around, searching for the stupid platform. Ed had given up around stations 9 and 10, where he and Harry met the Weasleys who both explained and demonstrated how to get to 9 ¾ station. That's when Ed and Harry made running into the wall themselves, being supervised by Arthur and Molly Weasley to make sure they got through okay and to Obliviate any muggles that could see anything they weren't supposed to.

Harry went right through the wall with no problems. Everything had gone through, from the tip of his nose to the cat carrier on his luggage cart. Ed on the other hand, smacked right into the wall and toppled backwards with a severe pain flaring through his nose.

Molly and Arthur Weasley, surprised and shocked, rushed over to help him. Once healed and on his feet, Ed had marched right over to the wall and placed a hand to it, noting that there was no give, nothing that could hint at something being there that shouldn't be there. To him, it really was just a wall, and it was as solid to him as the ground beneath his feet.

"You're a muggle then?" Arthur had anxiously asked upon seeing Ed's obvious predicament. He didn't need much of a confirmation though, and after being pinched and warned by Molly not to over-whelm the boy with questions about Muggle livelihood, he explained to Ed that the wall wouldn't be able to let Ed through, being a muggle as he was. The charm wouldn't just allow it.

Then with much pushing and glaring from Molly, Arthur was thrown through the wall. Then she gave Ed a friendly kiss on the cheek and apologized before walking through herself, following her husband, and leaving Ed alone.

Ed wouldn't take ' _no_ ' for an answer though, and especially from a wall. Once the Weasley's went through, Ed clapped his hands together and slammed them right into the wall.

 _Clay, silica, sand, iron oxide, lime carbonates, magnesia carbonates, alkali –_ Ed smirked. He hadn't used any real alchemy in years, but he hadn't lost his touch. He could still determine the composition of objects without any difficulty.

However, upon further inspection of the wall, Ed noticed that the brick wasn't all that was there. There was something else.

Something large yet small, something powerful yet weak. It was something that he couldn't identify as an element or a chemical… It wasn't physical as far as he knew, it wasn't something that could be held in his hand, and yet it had mass. It was sort of like energy, but different. It was something more than what Ed was familiar with. It was like kinetic energy or stationary energy, but it was also a whole different kind of energy. It was on a whole other level with no relation whatsoever to any sort energy Ed had ever been familiar with.

Was this magic? This… element containing everything yet nothing?

Ed frowned. If he didn't know the chemical composition of magic, how was he to transmute the brick to let him through?

Ed sighed and removed his hands from the wall before sliding down the side of it and thinking. He had been once considered a child prodigy, he could read volumes of books in a single night and retain everything he'd read. He'd become a state alchemist at 12, and done human transmutation at 10.

He'd raised Harry…

If he could raise Harry as well as he had, couldn't he do something that was so much less miraculous as well? Couldn't he transmute magic?

Magic was energy, an unknown energy, but energy nonetheless. Ed thought on that, and figured that maybe if he used that energy to fuel his transmutation, then maybe he would be able to rid the wall of the charm and go through.

It was worth a shot anyway.

So Ed stood up again and clapped his hands together before placing them back on the wall. He tried to transmute the wall first, _silica, iron oxide, alkali –_ but then the magic in the wall rejected him. Ed was thrown into the opposite pillar by the force of the rebound. Ed groaned from the sudden and severe energy drain and stayed still for a moment to regain his bearings.

Ed shakily got to his feet, and took another second to catch his breath, before he moved back over towards the wall, head held high, and clapped. He then placed his palms on the bricks and began again.

Plan B? He'd weave the magic energy into the transmutation first before attempting to transmute the wall.

That hadn't worked either, and another rebound resulted. This time around it forced Ed to topple right off the station and onto the train tracks bellow. The trains had already left the station, so he wasn't going to get ran over, but Ed also knew that chances were the Hogwarts train had also left by now. Ed still wanted to be able transmute the wall though, it was more of a matter of pride and determination now. Ed wanted to be able to transmute magic because it was a hard – _because it was a challenge_.

Ed stood.

He ignored the energy drain of a second rebound, and pulled himself back onto the platform and back over to the wall. Maybe it would be more prudent to transmute the magic first and then the wall?

With a clap, Ed placed his hands back onto the brick, and Ed only saw the brick's composition as he blocked out the rest of the world - _clay, silica, sand, iron oxide, lime carbonates, magnesia carbonates, alkali –_ And then he saw it - _magic_.

 _Get the magic first, worry about the brick later._ He thought with wince as he left side began to spasm uncontrollably, _no doubt a result from the rebounds._

Ed focused on dispersing the magic into the air or into Ed himself (Ed was using himself as a sort of conductor to force the magic from the wall into the ground). It was a long and tedious progress, but slowly the magic from the brick wall began to drain away. Ed found that the magic had a tendency to flow from the brick to himself more often than it would to the air around him, but Ed supposed that was because magic was suppose to reside in people and not in objects. Hence wizards. Ed thought that this would all require further study later.

After what felt like months of standing there, dispersing the magic in the bricks, Ed finally cleared the last of it away leaving only the bricks remaining, which he thereby transmuted next.

Once done, he toppled away and slid down to sit on the floor, exhausted. In front of him was that pillar, which now looked more like an archway, and in the center of the archway was another train station that looked drastically different form the one Ed was currently in. He slowly pushed himself back to his feet, and once the world stopped spinning around him and the nausea died down, Ed stumbled through it.

He looked up, once through the archway, and smiled when he saw what platform he was on.

_Platform 9 ¾_

"Ah, so I see you made it."

Ed sharply turned around to the voice, only to wish he hadn't. The nausea and spinning returned with a vengeance, and Ed had a hard time keeping his stomach _inside_ his body.

When Ed was finally able to open his eyes again, quelling the urge to vomit, he saw Snape, the greasy haired man from before, standing before him with that sneer of his. Actually, Snape had worn that sneer so often, Ed had a theory that it might've been a permanent feature on the man's face.

"Yeah…" Ed breathed after a few minutes, since it seemed like Snape was waiting for a response.

"Dumbledore predicted that you would have difficulties with the barrier." Snape tsked, "So pathetic allowing a _muggle_ into Hogwarts." There was a discernable pause where only Ed's labored breathing could be heard before the greasy-haired man continued.

"How'd you do it?"

Ed looked up, expecting that sneer on that bastard's face only to see sudden calculating blankness… so much for the permanent-feature theory then.

Ed coughed suddenly, throwing up a little bit of bile.

Snape was towering over him suddenly, "You're not a wizard." He growled, oblivious to most of Ed's poor health, and narrowed his eyes dangerously, like Ed was a threat. And in Snape's defense, _Ed was a threat_ , he was a human weapon after all, but Edward hadn't had to be one in a long while.

"So how?" Snape demanded more forcefully, knocking Ed out of his contemplative thoughts only to see a dark scowl now decorating Snape's face. It was as if Snape didn't like the idea of Ed being able to circumvent their magic's laws, which is a feeling quite similar to how Ed felt upon learning of magic. After all, Alchemy demanded Equivalent exchange, and with magic Equivalent Exchange just wasn't there. A wizard could conjure a pot out of thin air, but Ed would need a block of iron and carbon to make a pot on his own.

It forced Ed to think about his mistake of so long ago as well.

If magic could circumvent Alchemy's rules, then was everything Ed went through, from his automail limbs to his exile in the world beyond the gate… was it all for nothing?

"-now how?" Snape demanded again, once more breaking Ed of his wandering thoughts. Ed had missed the first part of his sentence, but the blonde alchemist could perhaps guess what it was Snape wanted to know. Alchemy.

Ed blearily looked up to Snape, blinking away the dark spots that were clouding his vision and the white flashes at the corner. He hadn't been able to focus properly, and now, suddenly, nothing made any sense anymore. Ed didn't know where he was or what was going on – the blurry figure of Snape before him looked strikingly similar to a certain Colonel…

"Sorry…" Ed croaked to the image of his friend.

Snape arched a brow, curious, "What are you talking about?" The _'Fullmetal'_ didn't need to be said to Ed, not by Roy Mustang, not unless the Colonel was making a point. Ed remembered how Mustang had refused to call Ed by his name, _Edward,_ and had only done so after Al had died, just before Ed performed Human Transmutation. Again.

Ed wondered how Mustang was doing now; after all, he was blind, wasn't he? Was he still even in the military?

Ed groaned, "I couldn't…" Ed coughed, blood suddenly splattering out, alarming the Potions Master and alerting him to Ed's waning health, something which hadn't looked serious before suddenly was extremely serious, "I couldn't…" Ed whispered, unable to finish, as he collapsed forward on his stomach, eyes open yet unable to see with the black blotches blocking his vision and swirling colors redefining the way the world looked.

Ed shifted under the sudden hand on his shoulder and groaned when a sharp pain flared in his stomach, right behind his naval. When the pain stopped and the world stopped spinning, a fleeting thought rushed to the forefront of Ed's mind before he fell unconscious.

_Rebounds were a bitch._

Needless to say, after all the drama, Madam Pomfrey promptly chewed Snape out for keeping Ed away from medical attention for as long as he did; despite the fact that Ed hadn't looked very sick until he vomited blood.

Madam Pomfrey didn't care about Snape's ' _excuses_ ' though, and promptly shooed him out before she decided he looked good in black and blue.

8 hours later, Ed was still in the infirmary, but doing a lot better. Snape hadn't returned to see him yet, and Ed assumed it had something to do with Pomfrey. That lady was freaking scary.

* * *

 

 

Harry had only been a little bit worried when he was told Ed hadn't been able to go through the wall. After all, nothing like that would ever stop Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist - _his dad_ – from doing anything the man wanted to do.

So Harry patiently waited by the train, watching the wall, for Ed. Time lazily passed by, but eventually the train was fully loaded and ready to set off for Hogwarts. Only then did Harry get worried, after all, how was Ed going to get to Hogwarts if the train had already left?

Harry had been just about to let the train leave without him too, when he noticed Ron standing behind him.

"How-" Harry cleared his throat to remove the disuse from it, and continued, "-long have you been there?" He finished as he scooted over a smidgeon for Ron to join him on the ground. Ron collapsed next to him with a grin.

"Long enough to hear snoring."

Harry shoved the red-head with both hands and smirked, " _Puh_ -lease!"

"I'm serious!" Ron retorted as he playfully shoved Harry back once he'd righted himself, "But I have to know, how long are you going to wait for him? Because the train's about to leave…"

"If he doesn't come, I'll just get off the train." Harry sighed disappointedly; like it was written in stone and was a law never to be disobeyed or he was to suffer utterly severe consequences, despite the fact that it had been Harry himself unwilling to go to Hogwarts alone. Ed, if anything, had wanted Harry _to go_ alone, make friends, grow up a bit… but Harry didn't want to. He didn't want to leave his father. Harry didn't want to not see his dad for months at a time. Harry didn't want his only family to become a stranger.

_Harry didn't want Ed to leave._

"I thought you said your dad was the new Ancient Runes Professor?" Ron questioned with an arched brow.

Harry sputtered, "He is! Dumbledore said so!"

Ron grinned widely and gave Harry a gentle push, "Well there you go then!" He said it like that fact alone solved everything. Harry gave Ron a half-lidded glare as if to say, ' _What the hell are you on about?'_

"Jeez are you slow." Ron muttered with an exhausted sigh. He groaned and then stood tiredly before looking Harry's deadpan stare right in the eyes, "If Dumbledore said your Da is gonna be at Hogwarts, then he's gonna very well be at Hogwarts!"

"But he can't go through the wall." Harry protested, "He's a muggle-"

"Don't matter!" Ron snapped, interrupting Harry pity-party, "Come hell or high water, he _Will. Be. At. Hogwarts_. You can bet your life on it." Ron sniffed.

Harry could only look at his new friend with his jaw flapping and eyes bobbles in their sockets.

"Now you and I, Harry, are going inside and having fun because it's our first day at Hogwarts!" Ron blinked before giving a lazy shrug, "Practically. Almost our first day at Hogwarts." He amended.

"Now you coming?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah."

So Harry picked up his carry-on bags and followed his friend into an empty compartment on the train. There weren't many left, but the two boys only needed one anyway. By the time they had sat down and settled into their compartment, the train had already been going down the tracks for quite a while. It looked like the room had been gone through too, like someone had been looking for something, but they were gone now and there was no hope in ever figuring out who it had been – not that it mattered much. It was more for curiosity's sake than anything.

The snack cart came not more than a few minutes after the boys got settled, and Ron bought a chocolate frog for himself.

"Don't you want anything?" Ron asked as he placed his frog off to the side. The cart lady looked upon Harry with a patient smile. She knew there was a lot to choose from, and she liked to let the children take their time. It was sort of cute the way the young ones made up their mind on one sweet or another.

"Well…" Harry didn't know if he should buy anything. When they had gone shopping in Diagon Ally for supplies, Ed had exchanged a good portion of his muggle currency for the wizarding equivalent. There hadn't been much left over, being a Librarian didn't pay too well; but what had been left over Ed kept for himself, save one of those gold coins which he'd given to Harry.

_"Now Harry." Ed turned to his son once they'd left Gingotts, "Take this."_

_Harry watched as Ed took his hand and placed one of those gold coins in his hand._

_"That's a Galleon." Ed explained, "It's equivalent to 5 pounds."_

_"What am I supposed to do with it?"_

_Ed chortled and patted Harry on the shoulder with a wry grin on his face, "Keep it until you find something you like."_

_Ed had then continued walking down Gringotts steps, leaving Harry forced to jog if he wanted to keep up with his father's brisk pace. Apparently, the conversation was over._

Well, Harry did like the look of those chocolate frogs, and the Every-flavor jelly bean container looked interesting…

"How much for those two?"

"2 sickles." The lady replied, "How much do you have on you?"

Harry pulled out his gold coin for her to look at, "One of these. Can I get those two for this?"

The lady had laughed as she took his coin and gave him his candy, as well as 15 of those 'sickles', and left. It wasn't Harry's fault he didn't know the currency, but Harry supposed it would be a silly question to anyone who knew any better.

Harry and Ron ate their candy happily, except for when Harry almost lost his chocolate frog to the window. Ron then proclaimed that he could turn his rat, Scabbers, yellow with magic. It was something Harry was excited to see, and was amazed when done. Harry would've almost felt bad for the rat if it hadn't been so funny to see the yellow creature scamper around displeased at his sudden wardrobe change.

Hours seemed to pass between the two, neither getting tired of the other as they played and laughed. They'd even let their pets out of their cages to play with them, something which Ron had at first protested to, but later agreed with, when it was found that Hedwig didn't seem to like live food and left Scabbers well enough alone.

Ron though, after a minute's thought, suggested having Scabbers ride on Hedwig's back like a horse, and Harry had almost immediately agreed to it. Not five seconds later was Scabbers strapped to Hedwig's back, scrambling to get out, as the cat bucked and scratched and ran around - all in vain attempts to get the rodent off.

Ron and Harry played until night fall, giving the animals a rest after the first hour. The two had talked about magic the entire while, Ron often talking about what he knew about Hogwarts, and when the castle was actually in sight; both boys were jumping up and down in excitement.

Glee written across their faces, they quickly dashed out of the train once it had stopped, left their luggage with the others', and then made their way to the boats where a giant made motions for them to get on rowboats without oars.

Of course, it was later learned that oars weren't needed when the boats began to go off down the river by itself, without any sort of propulsion save magic alone (Harry presumed at least).

The boats allowed all the students to see Hogwarts in its fullest, and it was a mighty castle indeed. Large and threatening with a magical air to it that was quite enchanting. Harry couldn't keep his eyes off it, and avidly absorbed every bit of it into his memory, not wanting to forget a second.

Everything else passed by in a blur, and soon he was in a great hall of sorts, standing amongst other kids his own age. Some were taller than him and some were shorter than him, but they all seemed to be about 10 or 11. The ones who weren't standing though, and were sitting at one of four giant tables, were much older; going from not much older than Harry to very old and mature adults (17 and 18 year old teenagers).

Mrs. McGonagall, from Privet Drive and that meeting, stood on the platform and was talking about what they would be doing next, but when the name of the first student rang out, _Edward Appler,_ Harry immediately thought of his father.

_Where was he?_

Harry scanned the Great Hall for that one particular face, starting from the back and moving towards the front. He knew Ed would be at Hogwarts, and since his father no doubt knew where Harry was going to be himself, it made sense that Ed would be in the Hall as well to rendezvous. Harry didn't expect to find Ed sitting near Professor Snape at the Teacher's table; while talking quite avidly with the greasy-haired man in a very amiable and animated manor. Harry almost couldn't believe his eyes, but it seemed that the two of them, despite their past meeting, were getting along quite well. All previous tension that Harry had sensed before had mysteriously vanished, and Harry wondered what had happened between them to do that.

Harry also wondered how Ed got to Hogwarts at all, but he supposed it didn't matter in the end, save that Ron had been right and Dumbledore had found a way to get his dad into Hogwarts despite being a Muggle and unable to go through the magic wall.

Ed suddenly smirked and leaned back, stretching his arms far above his head before leaning back over to Snape and saying something with a wry grin. Snape only arched a brow in Ed's direction, huffed, and turned back to the front of the hall obviously ignoring Ed. His father laughed, smacked Snape's shoulder with an audible clap (Snape's eye's and narrowed dramatically to express his displeasure), and then went to pouring himself some Pumpkin juice.

Harry grinned at his dad's antics and raised his hand far above his head before giving it a curt wave. Snape noticed Harry's motions first and promptly nudged Ed. Ed looked to Snape questioningly and then said something to the greasy-haired man. Snape consequently made a motion towards Harry before talking back while moving to pour himself a drink of his own.

Ed then directed his attention to whatever it was that Snape had been talking about and gesturing to. He smiled when he saw Harry with his arm raised above his head and waving slightly.

Ed grinned and lifted his own arm in a wave before nudging Snape again with an even larger grin on his face. Harry could just see Snape stewing in misery at Ed's sudden amiable attention towards him, and couldn't help but grin. Harry would've also said something to Ron about it, but relented when his name rang out and, consequently, echoed throughout the hall.

_"Harry Elric."_

Ron looked at Harry expectantly, and with a large exhale to help release the tension, Harry made his way forward to the elevation in the front of the hall and to the stool sitting peacefully in the middle. Harry also noticed the Sorting Hat in Mrs. McGonagall's hand, and swallowed a rather large lump when thinking about what house he would be in.

 

* * *

 

 

Ed woke with a start and groaned as he tried to figure out where in the bloody heck of all things good and evil he was. It didn't look anything like his flat, and he couldn't see Harry's bed in the corner either. _Where was he?_

Ed turned over to get a look at his ever present digital clock and found himself looking at a small cobblestone room. Memories flooded back, and Ed recalled all about Hogwarts.

_He was a bloody teacher for Pete's Sake!_

Ed rolled himself out of bed, stretched, groaned, and then made his way to get a shower and dressed. Plumbing wasn't exactly what he would call normal, and it took him a while to trust the running water enough to actually _step into it_ , but eventually he was cleaned, dried, and dressed – ready to start his day.

Oh, _hell no_ , he wasn't.

Ed planted his face into the nearest wall and groaned. _He knew nothing of being a teacher._ What the heck was he supposed to do? Teach them runes? Ancient runes? For months on end? _Boring._

Ed removed himself from the wall of his bathroom and stepped out, moving quickly out of his room and right into his new classroom.

Now that was a sight.

The class room held 30 seats for the students, with attached desks, in the back part of the room, while the front part held a majority of Ed's stuff. There were chalk boards lining the side walls, and the wall directly behind Ed, while the back wall was cluttered with bookshelves absolutely flooded with books.

Ed had chalk (he always had chalk with him), and had made sure the night before that each of the boards had one placed on the lip of each of the said boards.

Ed also had a teacher's desk where one would normally find the teacher's desk – in the front of the room. He also had an incredibly soft chair and a foot stool for when he fell asleep. Ed had his books on one side of his desk; while the other held two opened plastic bins for received homework and graded homework, a calendar, and a lot of sticky notes and notebooks.

In the each corner of the room, two more bookcases were placed, also flooded with books that seemed to spill over the shelves. All the bookcases, which seemed to have invaded Ed's small classroom, were loaded with books from A-Z, and had tens of hundreds more stacked on top of the bookcases. There were also two file cabinets enclosing the entrance to Ed's living quarters.

Ed had looked inside them last night; unlike the other containment-oriented furniture in the room, they were completely empty. Not even dust rested inside.

Today though, Ed ignored his crowded classroom, and managed his way to the back of the room and out into the hall. He'd already done his daily training and showered, he wanted food and then more sleep. Since it was highly probable that he wasn't going to get more sleep, he was just going to have to settle for the food, which wasn't a totally bad compromise anyway.

The Great Hall was, unlike last night, the epitome of a ghost town. No one was there, not a student not a teacher not the ghosts or house elves or _anything_. Ed sighed; he had at least expected to see Harry here. It wasn't that early yet and the boy should've been awake by now and eating breakfast.

Ed assumed he was still sleeping because he'd a late night last night, talking with so many kids or whatever it was that he did, but Ed was going to have to make sure he went to bed on time tonight. After all, it was only 7 in the morning, and Harry should've _at least_ woken up an hour previous, instead of the usual two that he and Ed had grown accustomed to (5 am).

Dismissing his son's late awakening, Ed made his way to serve himself some food and plow through it at high speeds. He downed the pumpkin juice, the tea, the butterbeer; he scarffed down the toast, eggs, chicken, French toast, waffles, and the peanuts too. By the time he completed the chocolate and strawberry puddings, at thirty minutes past 7, Harry emerged from the large doors of the Great Hall and moved to go sit with his pig of a father.

"You're late." Ed commented half heartily while spooning the last of the pudding into his mouth, "What kept you?" There was no admonishing, Harry was much older now than he had been when he was 7, and the boy knew to be sorry and apologetic without Ed having to make him feel so.

It really made the whole 'parenting' process a whole lot easier.

Harry bit his bottom lip and paused, hands coming to clasp together in front of himself shamefully as he knees turned inwards and towards the other."I didn't sleep until late last night." The young wizard admitted, "Ron and I met a girl. Hermione. We'd talked to her some before, but we didn't actually get to know her until we all met in the common room."

Ed grinned, "So she your girlfriend then?" He questioned as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Augh!" Harry recoiled backwards with a disgusting gagging noise bubbling from his throat, "She's just a friend, Dad!"

" _Sure she is~!"_ Ed sung mockingly.

"I'm serious! _I don't_ like her!"

"You don't now?"

Harry went red in the face, "You're manipulating me again." He barely managed to squeak past the boiling steam emanating from the teen's ears signaling either extreme embarrassment or rage.

Ed guffawed, "Who _me~? Nooo~!_ " He mock gasped before breaking out into giggles.

Harry, having enough of the teasing, did the only thing left for a boy his age to do.

He grabbed the serving jug of milk and dumped it all on top his father.

The trouble he would be in later was totally worth the look of disgust, anger, and pride merging together to form some sort of massive expression-bomb on his dad's face. Eventually, once Harry had put the jug back on the table, Ed settled for disgust.

" _Gross_!" Ed whined and he stood and flicked his hands to get the speckles of milk off the tips of his fingers, "You spilt the opaque cow juice on me! Nasty, Harry!" Ed whined/admonished, " _Nasty!_ "

Harry had the audacity to look sheepish, and Ed just wasn't going to let this one go, despite the fact that he was sort of happy that he and Harry had gotten back into the groves of how things used to be back in their flat.

Ed was Harry's father, but he was also his best friend, and Ed was glad that they could still mess around with each other.

"You are soin trouble!" Ed hissed even though he was grinning mockingly, alerting Harry that despite his tone, this was all play and that he was most likely in the clear.

Harry smirked confidently, hands splayed on his hips.

"Like you could _make me_." The boy challenged defiantly.

Ed's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he shot out suddenly from his chair, making a screeching sound, and got into a fighting stance – cookie platter in one hand and jello in the other. "Oh, it is _so_ on, Harry!"

"You sure you can handle my awesome?"

"I invented your awesome, _dumbass_." Ed snorted, and just like that, the biggest food fight in the history of Hogwarts went down for a solid hour and 28 minutes.

Both were seriously injured by the end of it though, suffering losses on both sides.

It was unfortunate that the German Chocolate cake didn't survive the battle, but it died for a good cause, as did several other pastries and desserts, but the severity of the casualties laid with Ed and Harry themselves.

Harry was now blind in one eye, lost during the toast and bacon brigade, and had also received a broken arm, which was now slung in a fondue sling, and a strawberry syrup laceration from the mid-thigh to knee.

Ed on the other hand, was limping from the pie-bomb, and was suffering from multiple blueberry jam contusions as well as a butterbeer induced delirium.

In the end, Harry surrendered, unable to beat the expertise his father possessed in battles, and raised the proverbial white flag – a breadstick with a glob of cream cheese stacked on the end.

Ed had accepted his son's surrender, and together, they limped back to Ed's room for a well-needed shower and a change of clothes. The two of them were covered with so much food, that one couldn't even tell that there were people inside in the edible globs.

Not ten minutes after the truce was signed did Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape, plus several students and other teachers, enter the Great Hall to the aftermath of the Great Food War. Needless to say, it didn't end happily but neither culprit (Ed and Harry) were suspected, and Snape didn't feel up to using Legillimancy to find out the true culprits.

He already had a hunch that Elric was responsible, as did Dumbledore, but decided to not do anything about it.

The blonde alchemist would owe him one that way, and who knew what favors an Alchemist could give? So it really wasn't because he and Ed were friends; that wasn't it at all. Nope. Snape was only keeping quiet because Ed would owe him one later. Yep. That was the only reason. Yep.

**\- Pain 2/6 –**

Ed had gone straight to the Potions Classroom after showering, again, and walking Harry to the Transfigurations class room.

See, Ed wasn't a teacher. He'd never held a class or lectured or given exams… Ed taught Harry, true, but it was all by word of mouth or by giving his son books to read. He never _actually_ gave him a lecture on mathematics or language or phonics. Every day was a day to learn, every day was a day to practice alchemy or spelling, every day Ed quizzed Harry… he couldn't do that with a class of 30 some-odd students four times a day. It was just impossible.

So Ed was going to watch Snape, see how he handled his class, and use the experience as pointers for all of Ed's own classes. Eventually, after enough sit-ins, Ed would get the gist of how things went.

"Ah, _Edward_." Severus Snape droned unhappily when Ed stepped into his classroom, "For what are you here for?"

Ed grinned at the man as he strode to the front of the desk and made to speak, but the other man headed him off, "Let me guess. You're here for pointers?"

Ed paused. _How'd he know that?_

Severus grinned with a malicious glint in his eye, as Ed's pause was proof enough that he'd been correct, and he sat down with flourish at his desk.

"Of _course_ someone like you would have _no idea_ how to run a classroom. You've never taught before. You're fresh meat." Severus leaned back and met his hands half way in his lap, "With what can I assist you with?"

Ed rolled his eyes at the man's antics and crossed his arms with raised brows and a slight shake to his head, "I just wanted to observe a class, Sev. No reason to get all high and mighty on me." Ed smirked, "I'll sick Madam Pomfrey on you. Wouldn't like that now, would ja?"

At the mention of Pomfrey, Snape visibly paled. She still hadn't forgiven the Potions Master for waiting so long to get Ed to a medical care facility; despite the fact that'd he apologized to her _and_ Ed (but only while Pomfrey was in the room and _watching_ ) several times. It had been horribly painful, but if it held any chance in getting the woman off his case, then it was well worth it.

"Yes, yes. How _are_ you doing?" Snape scowled, changing the subject, as he sat more rigidly in his chair, like Pomfrey was going to pop out of a corner with a needle in one hand and scalpel in the other (despite the fact that with magic, they were both quite unnecessary).

Ed frowned and stuffed his hands in his pockets before finding the broken cauldron in the corner absolutely _fascinating_.

Severus sighed and massaged his right eyebrow tiredly, "You _are allowed_ to take pain-relieving potions, Edward." Severus stood with a cold demeanor in his eye, not that Ed could see it staring at the cauldron like he was, "I'm sure Madam Pomfrey wouldn't hesitate to give-"

"I don't need any pain medication _._ " Ed groaned, " _I'm fine._ "

"Of course you are." He moved towards the blonde, "But then I also have to wonder how your automail ports are fairing after all the abuse you've abstained."

Ed narrowed his eyes at the man, "I've handled worse."

"So that limp you have has gone completely away?" Snape arched a brow, "Or how about the ringing in your ears? Has that stopped as well, Edward?"

Ed slammed his automail fist into the desk leaving a sizeable crater, " _Damn you. I said I'm **fine**._ "

"Glad to know you see things my way." Snape reached towards his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a small vile of some sort of plasma-like orange bubbling liquid. He popped it open and then held it out for the blonde to take, "Here." He jiggled it a bit, "I would drag you down to Pomfrey's myself, but it's so much easier to have you take it right now." The mansmirked, "Less time-consuming and all."

"So _what-?_ " Ed crossed his arms, refusing the potion, "You just _happened_ to have that brewed potion of pain-meds in your desk today? Seriously?"

Snape motioned towards the three large cauldrons placed strategically behind them yet in front of the students' desks, "I had leftovers." He then growled warningly, "Now _drink._ "

When Ed still refused, Snape struck Ed's right flesh leg with his foot, causing Ed to crumple and hiss with pain, before Snape held out the flask towards the fallen blonde again.

" _Drink._ "

Ed did drink the potion, and once it took effect, the greasy haired potions master sent Ed to a corner and told him to sit down and be quiet while he taught. Ed agreed, but not without having he vengeance. All throughout the class, Ed chewed up spit-wads of parchment and then shot them at Snape, through a straw he'd transmuted, at seven minute increments.

After the sixth spit-wad, Snape eventually sent a nonverbal spell at the blonde alchemist.

As Ed slowly grew pink and very _very_ itchy, the blonde slowly started to scratch at his arms and belly. Eventually Ed had to jump up and was dancing around attempting to sratch every part of his body all at once while stretching and contorting in the wildest and most embarrassing of ways.

It's an understatement to say that Snape smiled widely throughout the entire ordeal.

 _No one_ shot spit-wads in _his class. _

 

* * *

 


End file.
